Azerbaijan, U.S. resuming high-level visits

BAKU. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has agreed to United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien's visit to Baku in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"During the conversation, Blinken asked Aliyev to allow O'Brien to visit Azerbaijan in December for normalizing relations between the two countries. Aliyev consented to this proposal on the condition that Washington lift the unwarranted ban on high-level visits of Azerbaijani officials to the U.S. Blinken accepted that proposal," the Azerbaijani presidential press service said.

The phone call was arranged at the U.S.' proposal, it said.

Aliyev also informed Blinken that Armenia only on November 21, 2023 replied to Azerbaijan's proposals on the text of a peace treaty that Baku sent to Yerevan on September 11, 2023, the Azerbaijani presidential press service said.

Aliyev and Blinken also exchanged opinions regarding a meeting of border delimitation commissions scheduled for November 30 at the provisional border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, it said.

In mid-November, O'Brien said the U.S. suspended the provision of military and other assistance to Azerbaijan and called off a number of high-level visits. Washington also made it known to Baku that the U.S.-Azerbaijani bilateral relations would not be normalized until progress was made in peace talks with Yerevan. In response, Baku said high-level visits of U.S. officials to Azerbaijan would be inappropriate.